This is an important think piece for a lot of reasons but mostly because . . .

As Kansas City is still debating the user agreement, maybe our City Council might want to think about clawbacks and penalties for developers if/when KCMO falls under FAA scrutiny and ends up charged fines. As it stands now, KANSAS CITY TAXPAYERS ARE TOTALLY EXPOSED whilst Mayor Sly & Jolie Justus urge Council to hurry and sign on the dotted line.

This is another of the many ways the new airport could haunt taxpayers down the road. While City Council had no design specs or maximum price in mind when it received airport construction proposals, the so-called community benefits program stroked every political erogenous zone. A vast horde of cash for chumming votes. Tens-of-millions in a slush fund for daycare centers, worker training, historic preservation, etc.

The plan was to front-load the slush fund, paying these back later from revenues taken from the new airport. Then the FAA stepped in, warning that the city was creating a community crime program. The problem is illegal revenue diversion. As this piece notes, the Feds have long forbidden cities to use airports as “cash cows”. Another example of how KCI is becoming a poster child for how to screw up airport development. The basic idea is that all airport funds must be used directly for airport purposes. In this case, the FAA warned the city that funding social services in connection with the new airport, however commendable politically, is likely a violation of Federal law.

Which brings us to this week’s Aviation Committee meeting. We learned the city hopes to avoid being sued by renaming things. The term Community Benefits is out, replaced by “Terminal Workforce Enhancement Program.” This probably sounded better than changing it to “Seeking Campaign Augmentation Money” (SCAM). There was confusion. A Councilman asked if certain community benefits schemes were still part of the deal, despite the semantic evasions. No said the city attorney because that risked a Federal audit and possible criminal charges. Fascinating to watch public officials calculate how terminological changes might or might not evade crime.

How does this matter for taxpayers? The Federal criminal code says the city could be fined up to three times the amount of illegally diverted funds. If that happens, it will be taxpayer money. How is risking potentially millions in fines a community benefit? How much money has the city already spent/will it spend on attorneys to keep from being sued? How did we go down this rabbit hole instead of focusing on the best possible airport at the lowest possible price? We know the answer to the last question. They hang out at City Hall.
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The first fine that NewKCI will get is accessibility. At only 1.6 billion there is no way they are going to have money to make the building truly accessible. If they do we're talking about a very small facility that has limited potential to serve the whole community. This is going to very hard for the city to deal with but they need to think about access for people with special needs. It's part of the law and from what I've seen even the crossing from the parking lot into the airport is very unfriendly for wheelchair access. The fines for building these kind of exclusionary structures are significant.

Representatives from the top public business and law schools in the nation will be in KCMO reviewing the details of this scam so they can incorporate this in their courses as a prime example of a real world scenario on how not to negotiate for a new airport.

Community benefits are a scam so is the upfront enlistment of local sub contractors, a whole army of interested parties to cheerlead. Surprised they do not so up for council meetings to show support. Hell may as well offer them all lunch if they show up for support and have them wear 'make airports great again' t-shirts and hats for the cameras. Do Developers really care if the community benfits pan out?

As one unexpected expense after another surfaces, just pass an ordinance "declaring an emergency" and scour the city treasury for any available money, and spend it however you like.And if there's nothing available, just steal it from another account, regardless of the importance of what was actually supposed to be funded.Incompetence followed by dishonesty.It's the KCMO "government" way!